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USB Tethering Working On iPhone 3.0 Through Hack
eviltangerine writes "Twitter user stroughtonsmith was dickering around with the carrier bundle files for his developer version of the iPhone 3.0 OS and enabled the USB tethering options. Apparently he has even been able to use his laptop to access the internet over the USB tether. MacRumors comments that while Apple has announced the availability of tethering, it hasn't hashed out the details with the mobile carriers (probably so they can charge more in fees). No word on connection speed, but here are some pictures of his phone while tethering."
But I'm afraid I can't let you do that -Apple
two days later: 3.1 update nulls this hack
..a closed platform opening up brings news.. whereas other open (and closed) platforms have had this for a long time. The Apple RDF is strong..
http://dilemma.gulecha.org - My philospohical short film.
Apple is the devil
Apple has nothing on the wireless industry. This is the same industry that disables features that compete with their business model "for your protection", charges nearly as much to send a 160 character SMS as it would cost me to mail a letter across the country, sticks people with five digit bills when their device gets stolen, charges five times as much for minutes over your allowance as they do for your allowance minutes and locks you into long term contracts using the "subsidy" of the phone as an excuse even when you bring your own phone.
In short, if the revolution comes, the wireless carriers will be up against the wall right after we finish with the Wall Street Executives and RIAA lawyers.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Apple is the devil
Apple has nothing on the wireless industry. This is the same industry that disables features that compete with their business model "for your protection", charges nearly as much to send a 160 character SMS as it would cost me to mail a letter across the country, sticks people with five digit bills when their device gets stolen, charges five times as much for minutes over your allowance as they do for your allowance minutes and locks you into long term contracts using the "subsidy" of the phone as an excuse even when you bring your own phone.
In short, if the revolution comes, the wireless carriers will be up against the wall right after we finish with the Wall Street Executives and RIAA lawyers.
I'm sorry I couldn't hear you over the obscene laughter coming from all the wireless execs.
The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the entire teen population that cell phones are no longer hip, cool, or useful. Don't even get me started on teens and text messaging and their "need" to have 15000 texts a month freedoms.
Until then, wireless companies will continue to enjoy the fruits of your addiction. Oh, and if you really feel you're being "robbed" these days, feel free to dig up a phone plan circa 1996 to compare current usage against.
The only thing that will force a revolution in this industry is when you convince the parents of the entire teen population not to pay for shit their kids don't need.
Fixed that for you ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Hackers - please don't spread the "how" until the 3.0 firmware is released. Don't give Apple time to fix the "bug" or "hole". I'd like to use this feature. Does it work on the 1st gen iPhones (EDGE) as well, or only the 3G models?
today is spelling optional day.
I'm with you right up to the part about being locked in when you bring your own phone. I've been on AT&T for four years now without ever being under contract, and no I am not on a "GoPhone" prepaid, it's a normal postpaid account even loaded up with features like laptop tethering.
It's easy, I've been through four phones in that time and never once bought one subsidized, so if another GSM provider ever sprung up (or T-Mobile got a network that was worth a shit outside of cities) I could jump in a heartbeat. Technically I could go to a CDMA provider, but they all have horrible phones, so no.
I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
Fixed that for you ;)
Wow. Do I ever stand corrected. Your statement is so true it's painful."
I hear ya. It seems that today's parents have forgotten one of the most important words in their vocabulary...NO
It seems parental units, somewhere along the years, have forgotten that THEY and ONLY THEY are in charge in a household. Things like toys, cell phones, video games, etc...are luxuries that are doled out as their option, they are not 'rights' that children have.
I think that's why I seem to observer so many kids today with the sense of entitlement to all these things, rather than being grateful that they have a few luxuries. The kids seem to run the adults lives...rather than the other way around.
Don't get me wrong, if a person chooses to have children, they do need to prepare themselves for the personal and financial sacrifice that goes with it. But, that doesn't mean that you no longer rule the roost so to speak.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
does nothing but make each subscriber more expensive to provision
Wouldn't my $35 "activation fee" cover this expense? The "activation fee" that is (amazingly enough) not typically waived even when you get locked into a two year contract? Do you expect us to believe that it costs more than $35 to provision a customer when said provisioning process never seems to take more than 3-5 minutes? I guess keying an ESN/SIM card into your system is a real PITA, huh?
Believe it or not the call detail records for both voice and data are quite expensive to maintain.
Do you expect us to believe that it's harder for you to keep call detail records than it is for the landline company, who manages to sell service without contracts? You might have a few more fields in your database than they do (call origination) but I don't think that's a particularly burdensome requirement.
Also "bringing your own phone" can cause a customer service nightmare where people expect to use their POS phones they brought 10 years ago, for which Reps cannot all be fully trained to answer questions.
In my experience your reps are useless with carrier branded phones as well. In any case this problem could be solved by directing people to the manufacturer for support if they have a non-branded phone. Ya know, the same business model that the landline company has been using for decades?
This then leads to all sorts of industry analysts claiming customer satisfaction is garbage when it's really the customer's shooting themselves in the foot.
Your customer satisfaction is garbage because you lock people into long term contracts and hold them hostage when they try to leave because of shitty service. Keep drinking the kool-aid though.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Actually Apple DOES focus on what something does. They focus on it so well that they don't release half baked functionality just to lengthen their feature list. When they do release a feature it works and it works well and it's usually well thought out and a pleasure to use. Thus you demonstrate my very point, you're so focused on a feature list (and the blatant BS of style over substance) that you don't see that HOW a feature works is necessary in order to make a feature useful.